Posted by June White
World News
Saturday, April 30th, 2011
Mubarak Faces Death
Former president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak gave up his presidency in February after an 18-day protest occurring on Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Today, the 82-year-old former ruler and his wife and two sons are facing charges of corruption.
In Febrary, at least 846 protesters were killed during the pro-democracy uprising. Mubarak was in power for thirty years and will be sentenced to death if the court finds him responsible for those deaths.
It is rumoured that former Interior Minsister Habib el-Adly will testify that Mubarak ordered him to open fire on the protesters. Mubarak spent time in a hospital for heart problems and after was placed under arrest and accused of ordering the use of deadly force.
It is also alleged that Mubarak gained wealth by corrupt dealings while he was in office including arms deals and exports of gasoline to Israel through a company owned by one of Mubarak’s friends. Suzanne Mubarak, Hosni Mubarak’s wife, is suspected of embezzling money through many organizations she was involved in.
After Mubarak’s ousting, The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces took over ruling of the country. With a new presidential election scheduled to take place in November, only the new president of Egypt will be capable of pardoning Mubarak.
The religious group the Muslim Brotherhood was in preparations to gain up to half of Egypt’s parliamentary seats. It has been reported that they will not run a presidential candidate or attempt to win majority in parliament.
Posted by George Hex
Business
Saturday, April 30th, 2011
Anti-Gay-Marriage
Paul Clement, an attorney with the law firm King & Spalding, submitted his resignation after the firm moved to withdraw as counsel on Clement’s case defending an anti-gay-marriage law prohibiting the Federal Government for recognizing same-sex marriage.
Clement asserts that his personal beliefs of same-sex marriage had nothing to do with his resignation. He indicated his reason was his “firmly-held belief” that a client’s case should never be deserted because of an unpopular legal stance.
Paul Clement was Solicitor General under President George W. Bush and the Firm received much criticism for accepting the case. On April 18 the gay rights group The Human Rights Campaign released a statement saying that the firm “should be ashamed of associating themselves with an effort to deny rights of their fellow citizens.”
The law firm of King & Spalding released a statement indicating only that the firm was remiss in accepting the assignment without going into further detail as to why it motioned to withdraw from the case. Robert Hays, chairman of King & Spaulding said that after reviewing the assignment in more detail, it was determined that “the processed used for vetting this engagement was inadequate.”
As for Mr. Clement, whose resignation letter was published on the “Above the Law” legal blog, he indicated he would in fact continue his representation of this client as an attorney at the firm Bancroft. Bancroft is known as a lobbying and litigation firm that was founded by former United States assistant attorney under former President George W. Bush, Viet Dinh.
Posted by George Hex
Business
Saturday, April 30th, 2011
Not Tracking Users
In what is shaping up to be a huge controversy concerning use of the iPhone and iPad and privacy, Apple has responded to the allegations that they are tracking users whereabouts through a GPS featured stored in their mobile devices and computers with a flat denial of the charge.
Apple asserts that users are confused about the tracking issue and were given incorrect information last week when British researchers revealed the tracker. The researchers discovered that iOS concealed an unencrypted file which when analyzed, was found to contain thousands of location and data items as far back as a year. Additionally, this unsecured file was also being transferred and backed up onto users’ PCs and Macs during the synchronization process.
Apple released a statement refuting the researchers’ claims saying that they do not track the location of iPhones. And that, “Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so.”
The file is apparently not a history of your movements stored on the iPhone or iPad, but is a subportion of a database maintained by Apple of cell tower and Wi-Fi hotspot locations. The data is compiled from numerous users.
Apple went on to explain that the database helps the iPhone “rapidly and accurately calculate its location when requested.” The database does not in fact save a record of where the iPhone user actually is or has actually been, but the locations of the cell phone towers and/or Wi-Fi network locations in proximity to the user.
According to Apple, this information is apparently needed to aid the mobile device in quickly locating GPS satellites for the user by zeroing in on Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower information rather than trying to locate the GPS satellite data directly which can take up to “several minutes.”
The data that is loaded on the device by Apple that the researchers saw is only a small portion of the actual huge database and the information is garnered by millions of iPhone and iPad users worldwide.
Posted by Andrew Timms
Entertainment
Friday, April 29th, 2011
Michael Jackson Defendant
The judge in the hearing of Michael Jackson’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, will decide next week on whether to grant additional time to the defendant’s defense team.
Murray faces charges of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson’s death and faces up to four years in prison if convicted. The judge, Michael Pastor, who presides over the Los Angeles Superior Court will render his decision on Monday. Jury selection is set to begin on Wednesday, May 4 with testimonies to commence on May 9th.
Dr. Murray is charged with gross negligence for injecting Jackson with the anesthetic Propofol and other sedatives which caused Jackson to overdose and die of heart failure. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Judge Pastor has allowed prosecutors for the case to call new expert witnesses. The defense team then followed with a motion for the extension. Judge Pastor expressed reservations about allowing the defense team’s extension because of concern with the time and cost of the high-profile case. The Los Angeles Times quoted the judge saying, “Preparations have cost funds in excess of six figures.”
The Los Angeles Times has reported that the defense asserts that Jackson either drank or injected himself with the fatal dose of Propofol. Prosecutors have made public their decision to call Dr. Steven Shafer, an anesthesiologist who contends it was impossible for Jackson to self-ingest a fatal dose of Propofol.
Jackson’s death occurred shortly before his long-awaited comeback tour was to kick off in London. It has been asserted that Jackson was taking the strong sedative because he was not able to rest after practicing for the upcoming massive tour.
Posted by Sarah Hughes
Leisure
Friday, April 29th, 2011
London Marathon Runner
After completing a marathon most people would go home and lay themselves to sleep, well, Sam Robson did that too. But rather than driving to his house, which is 99 miles away from the finish line of the London Marathon, Robson ran back all the way.
Before commencing on the 99-mile second leg, the 28-year-old from Central England ended Sunday’s official race in 3 hours and 45 minutes. As he was hailed by a cheering crowd, he arrived in his home at St. Ives Cambs, 25 hours later. He finished the entire race by running a total of 125 miles in 29 hours with a pace of around 13 minutes per mile.
With that number that sounds impossible. It’s even more astonishing, if you really think about it. Consider the things you were doing five hours ago yesterday. Then envision yourself scampering since then. I could not even fathom just the thought of being wide awake for that long.
Robson endured epilepsy since he was in his teens. He is a medical researcher who completed the super-marathon to raise money for the UK Epilepsy Society. Entirely, he hoisted a little more than $5,000 for the charity.
For him the hard part was, staying up, maintaining hydrated and consuming calories to make up for the 15,000 he burned, while running itself was quite easy.
“I had to have regular breaks to refill my water and whenever I stopped my legs seized up so I couldn’t rest for long. In terms of tiredness, my legs felt pretty good and the worst bit was I had to keep eating to replace all the calories I was burning.”
Apart from some soreness which is expected, Robson said he was completely fine. It was his first time running a marathon and his first 99-mile run.
Posted by John Mayfield
Travel
Friday, April 29th, 2011
New Islands Found
Discovery of hundreds of new islands all over the world is one thing that you don’t encounter every day.
According to a firsthand worldwide survey by researchers from Duke University and Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C., the Earth has 657 more barrier islands than formerly believed.
By using navigational charts, topographical maps and satellite images, researchers were able to identify a sum of 2,149 barrier islands in the whole world. Compared to the recognized 1,492 islands in a 2001 survey piloted without any assistance of widely accessible satellite imagery, the current total is indeed much greater.
Oftentimes, barrier islands appear as series of long, low, narrow offshore sand and sediment deposits, running parallel to a coast however disconnected from it by estuaries, lagoons or bays. These islands, not like static landforms, accumulate, erode, drift and reconstruct as time goes by in reaction to currents, tides, waves and other physical courses in the vulnerable marine milieu.
Overall, the world’s barrier islands size approximately 13,000 miles or 21,000 kilometers in length. They form just about 10% of the Earth’s interior coastlines and are situated in all continents excluding Antarctica and the entire oceans. Furthermore, the northern hemisphere is haven to 74% of these isles.
Barrier islands can be essential wildlife habitations. Also, they aid in safeguarding main lowland shores against storm and erosion destruction. The United States of America contains most barrier island counting to 405, together with those alongside Alaskan Arctic shoreline.
Duke University study team member Orrin H. Pilkey said, “This provides proof that barrier islands exist in every climate and in every tide-wave combination. We found that everywhere there is a flat piece of land next to the coast, a reasonable supply of sand, enough waves to move sand or sediment about, and a recent sea-level rise that caused a crooked shoreline, barrier islands exist.”
Posted by Andrew Timms
Entertainment
Friday, April 29th, 2011
Stealing Merchandise
Outrage and debate has been sparked yet again in the case of Lindsay Lohan who was accused of stealing merchandise from a Venice, California jewelry store. The judge in Ms. Lohan’s case decided to reduce her current charge of felony down to a misdemeanor in the theft case.
In reducing the charges in this case, the Los Angeles Superior Court judge, Judge Stephanie Sautner, Ms. Lohan could see the jail time she would have been facing if convicted on the felony charged, reduced greatly if convicted under the misdemeanor.
Judge Sautner’s reasoning behind the reduction were her belief that reducing the charges were justified and that this type of reduction happens all the time in lower-profile cases.
However, prosecutors do not agree and are considering appealing Judge Sautner’s decision. Prosecutor Danette Meyers said, “The judge abused her discretion in this case. It was a felony filing because the defendant was on probation.” Prosecutor Meyers went on to say that the evidence against Lohan was exceptionally strong and has violated her probation on several occasions.
Prosecutor Meyers also disagreed with Ms. Lohan’s attorney who has asserted from the start that his client did not intend to steal the necklace, citing the incident as “garden-variety” theft.
The judge ruled that Lohan did in fact violate her probation and sentenced the star to 120 days in jail and community service totaling 480 hours.
Lindsay Lohan is awaiting trial in the coming months.
Posted by June White
Breaking News
Friday, April 29th, 2011
Tennessee Storms Death Toll
In Tennessee, storm deaths have reached 30 with adamant intense weather extending some 185 miles from southeast Tennessee to the northeast bend. On Thursday, the deaths were confirmed including 9 in Bradley and Hamilton counties, 6 in Greene County, 4 in Bledsoe County and 1 each in Sequatchie and Washington counties.
Sequatchie County Emergency Management Director Rusty Cheatham said a man died after having cleared away by a rustling stream in the Cartwright civic, in one of the updated confirmed deaths. After the water brought him down the Cartwright Gulf approximately 9 p.m. Wednesday, the casualty’s body was recovered.
Then, on Thursday morning, widespread power blackouts were reported across East Tennessee.
According to Marshall County EMA Director Bob Hopkins, 2 victims underwent minor injuries (bumps and bruises) in the town of Chapel Hill, Tenn., in Marshall County after drastic storms hit the area at around Wednesday noon.
In Clarksville, nearly 10 homes were drowned in the Woodstock Estates neighborhood. Last year, the same area was struck. The neighbors are frantic saying they can’t sell their homes then blaming the city for the flooding. A number of them said they’re planning to sue.
Various flooding damage has also been done to a few homes in Cheatham County, but none has been evacuated. County emergency management agency Director Edwin Hogan stated that some have vacated their homes due to flooding expectancies.
Middle Tennessee State University police said they were noting reports, Wednesday evening, of flooded vehicles, but they ought not to save people by boats; they mentioned, however, that folks were struggling to get in the water via canoes.
The Harpeth River was close at 17 feet at 1 PM Wednesday and predicted to arrive at flood stage of 30 feet at about 1 AM Thursday, the Williamson County Emergency Agency reported. The agency also said that portions of Franklin’s town center that commonly overflow, as well as Fourth Avenue, Mack Hatcher Boulevard and Hillsboro Road, possibly will see certain flooding.
Posted by George Hex
Business
Thursday, April 28th, 2011
APPLE’S MOBILE DEVICES
The creator of Motion’s BlackBerry PlayBook, RIM, is seeing abysmal press for their product due to bad research. Verizon Wireless has not committed to carrying the PlayBook and BlackBerry users who use AT&T as their carrier are not able to download the BlackBerry Bridge which brings email and communications apps to the PlayBook.
But RIM is not the only pioneer in the communications game to see their attempts at mobile technology fail. Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 and Dell’s Axim both have made attempts to take on the iPhone and iPad to disappointing sales. Acer, Nokia, Lenovo and ViewSonic have all had starts and fails when it comes to mobile technology as well.
The truth that Apple doesn’t have a strong competitor in mobile technology would be more palatable if the other companies that are that are trying to develop this technology were not such established technological giants in other areas. The fact that they cannot establish a foothold in the mobile market prevents these companies from going into the future where Apple is strongly established as the best.
The risk Apple took in unveiling their smartphone and tablet product paid off, making them the highest-valued public technology company in the world. Are the other companies not doing enough research into producing competing products that actually work and more focused on blurring the market share by shooting arrows in Apple’s monopolistic fortress?
Where Apple seems to have the gain is not only the security features their mobile devices employ, but also the versatility, the esthetics and the add-on features that make their mobile devices the leaders, apart from Google’s heel-nipping Android technology, in the mobile technology market.
Posted by John Mayfield
Travel
Thursday, April 28th, 2011
FAA Caught Napping
It’s been almost two years since the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) vowed to allow their air traffic controllers to sleep or at least rest during overnight work shifts, but the plan has yet to come to fruition.
The effects of the cause of sleep deprivation on the aviation industry are not rocket science. In fact, the documented outcome of lack of sleep has resulted in 14 accidents with 263 deaths since 1993. The National Transportation and Safety Board has determined that fatigue was the direct cause or at least a factor that contributed to the incidents. The FAA has also acknowledged that lack of sleep on overnight shifts is a problem.
In light of the recent incidents where five air traffic controllers have reportedly fallen asleep on the job during their overnight shifts, there seem to be no progress and much debate over what seems to be a simple resolution.
The recognition of the issue of sleeplessness on the aviation industry is simple, however, finding a solution that is palatable to the government, unions, workers, airlines and the public is a much shakier prospect.
Considering the current United States economy, the reaction to the proposition of paying people to nap does not seem to be acceptable to anyone, other than the workers. And while it is anything but a secret that the sleeplessness of our aviation workers is a concrete problem, the solutions to this seem to come at a price that the industry does not want to pay.
Ironically, other countries have implemented some of the FAA’s own research to adopt regulations permitting pilot napping, including the European Aviation Safety Agency. Additionally the FAA has rejected its own research and that of agencies such as NASA when they have come to them with documentation and solutions regarding the issue of sleep deprivation.
There have been committees and advisories dating back to the early 1990’s advising the FAA of the problem of and solutions to the sleep deprivation of aviation workers, but currently the politics behind the entire industry has hindered a resolution to the problem.
